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In an unprecedented development, the Big 10 failed to land a single player on the McDonald's 24-member All-America high school basketball team for 2009.
"It says whether you are a McDonald's All-American or a top 50 player, you find few players in this class going to the Big 10," said widely respected recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons of All-Star Sports, who has served as one of the McDonald's selectors since 1978.
"That isn't to say that the Big 10 won't do well in 2010 and get future McDonald's All-Americans. But this year is unprecedented. I can't recall a year when the Big 10 didn't get at least one or two All-Americans. In my view, it is just an off year, not a long-term issue.
But Gibbons said that critics who claim Illinois coach Bruce Weber is a poor recruiter are hurting the Illini program.
Critics point out that Weber hasn't signed a McDonald's All-American during his six years at Illinois, that North Carolina got four this year. In fact, Illinois has landed only one McDonald's All-American (Dee Brown) in the last 10 years.
"Weber is painted as a bad recruiter by Illini Nation and other people read the Internet, including college coaches, recruits, fans and alumni," Gibbons said. "That negativity fuels the fire and hurts the program. Other kids are made aware of what people are saying about Illinois. It can have a lot to do with how they deal with the recruiting process."
Gibbons doesn't believe Weber gets as much credit as he deserves. He insists that guard D.J. Richardson, an Illini recruit who ranks No. 30 in the country on his list and is the highest rated Big 10 recruit this season, would have been a McDonald's All-America if he had stayed at Peoria Central rather than transfer to a prep school in Nevada.
"I guarantee Richardson would have been an All-American," Gibbons said. "But he went to an all-star team where he wasn't the total standout."
Gibbons believes critics will change their tune and be toasting Weber next year when Illini recruits Jereme Richmond of Waukegan and Crandall Head of Crane achieve All-America recognition, as he projects.
Gibbons points out that many critics don't understand that programs recruit, not coaches. There are reasons why some programs are successful year after year, why North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA and Indiana have a tradition of winning and attracting the best players.
"They have an edge because kids want to go where they can play for an NCAA championship, where they can play with the best players, where they can be prepared for the NBA, where they can get the most television exposure, where they can play a certain style," Gibbons said. "A lot of schools are trying to climb into that elite category. Illinois is one of them."
Gibbons is convinced the Big 10 is on the way back to competing with the ACC, Big East, Big 12 and Pac-10 as the most dominant conference in college basketball. He points to the good recruiters who have had success in the past--Tom Izzo, Tubby Smith, Matt Painter and Tom Crean--and he includes Weber in that group.
"It's just a matter of time before they turn it around," he said.
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So because Bob Gibbons says it, it's true? Any proof to this? Have any recruits turned down Weber because of what they read on the internet? A bit misleading if you ask me...
Not many in Illini Nation have worried about recruiting in over a year since the flurry of commitments after Jerrance Howard was hired. Now we have Tracy Abrams in the fold for 2011 as a cornerstone/pied piper for the class.
So it's Illini Nations fault that coming off a NC game apperance, no one would commit to Weber besides an Offensive tackle, a D-II guard, and a Shooting guard with an alcohol problem?
The bandwagon was full and rockin'.....and it's Illini nations fault that the wheels came off?
Mr. Gibbons,
Thanks so much for your insight. I was under the mistaken impression that a failure to recruit could be attributed to the head coach with a seven figure salary.
Any thoughts thoughts on Bernard Madoff and Wall Street financiers? Is the current economic situation the fault of working people trying to save for retirement?
Again, thanks so much...
The problem is that Taylor Bell's sarcasm meter isn't just broken, it's been smashed beyond belief and is buried 100 feet down in the Cook County Land Fill probably right next to the body of a member of the Chicago Mafia.
This season, about 1/3rd of the threads on the ILLINI board on Scout.com contain at least 1 post saying "Weber can't recruit"; each one oozing with so much sarcasm that it makes everyone's keyboard so sticky that their fingers stick to the keys.
Bell reads that and takes it at face value and he comes up with his brilliant idea that ILLINI Nation is saying that Weber really can't recruit.
Pity those who were born without a sense of humor.
Taylor, show me all the posts of ILLINI fansthat are REALLY saying that Coach Weber can't recruit.
p.s. In order to count them, they need to have been posted in the last 9 months.
It is simple to see that the BIG picture is lost here. Last I remember a coach is paid to WIN, and build a WINNING program. Coach Weber has won over 73% of his games at Illinois. Illini Nation should look at that and decide if he is doing the job or not. Do we remember a gentlemen by the name Robert Montgomery Knight? He often proclaimed he would rather not have All Americans because they have been given everything their whole life. Mr. Knights win percentage was 70%. Don't get me wrong, we can't compare Coach Weber to Bobby Knight but you can definitely see the resemblance in coaching philosophy, and hard, Fair work put in.
honestly, if kids or street agents or coaches or anyone else are taking what is being said on chat boards as representing the program they are looking at and deciding yes or no based on that, then those kids are getting bad advice or may not have the mental fortitude to play high major college ball. since when does some yahoo hiding behind an avatar know anything about anything? that entire premise is really totally specious and gives messageboard fans and wackos WAY too much credit.
now if some mythological "unnamed" CPL coach is badmouthing Weber, or certain Sun Times columnists cites some unnamed public league coaches, that seems like it would be more damaging than some chatroom thread.
Maybe Bob Gibbons should worry more about the politics of the McDD AA selection process (see Mike Rosario) than unnamed critics.
Bob, i'm a little surprised that you didn't mention Duke's official program site and all the press it has gotten (Sports Business Journal, Duke Chronicle, Sports Business Daily, Team Marketing Report, San Diego Union Tribune, etc.). Duke gets marketing, Coach K gets marketing - Coach K developed an official program site to control the BS that is out there so any recruit can go there and get the official message from coaches, players (past and present), administration, and fans.
I invite you to check it out: www.DukeBluePlanet.com - it's the future of college recruiting and every major Bball and Fball college program will soon have their own dedicated program site.